The response to the committee's report on Peter Mandelson's appointment as ambassador to the United States was published on Friday, after being received on 12 October.
Ministers agreed that no public appointment should be announced or made before the required security clearance has been granted. Future heads of mission employed by the Foreign Office will require Developed Vetting.
The Government also accepted that a formal process is needed for direct ministerial appointments to the diplomatic service. The Foreign Office, Number 10 and the Cabinet Office will work together, with proposed names shared with the department's permanent secretary for open-source due diligence.
That exercise will examine reputational risks, while national-security risks remain part of the formal vetting process. Ministers also agreed that the Foreign Secretary and head of the diplomatic service should be consulted before an appointment is made.
The Government did not accept the committee's proposal for a veto over political head-of-mission appointments. It did, however, offer talks on a new form of confidential pre-appointment scrutiny.
Thornberry, the Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury and chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, has therefore secured material changes to the process, although the separate review of the Mandelson vetting episode has yet to report.
